JP/Bakrie Telecom ups target to 1.5m customers

PT Bakrie Telecom has revised upward its 2006 customer target from 1.3 million to 1.5 million.

The target revision was due the company already registering 1.3 million customers for their Esia product by late September.

By the third quarter of 2006, Bakrie's customer numbers had grown by 167 percent on the same period last year, when they had 487,000 customers.

"We have passed the 1.3 million target. that is why the management has set a new target of 1.5 million customers," Bakrie Telecom president director Anindya N Bakrie said in a statement issued over the weekend.

Anindya said that this year's growth indicated that the new target was attainable.

Another reason for optimism, he said, was that Esia's coverage had spread from Greater Jakarta to Bandung and all cities in West Java and Banten, using much of PT Telkom's interconnected line facilities.

"So far, apart from Jakarta, its greater area and Bandung, we are also operating in Bogor, Serang, Cilegon, Cirebon, Purwakarta, Tasikmalaya, Ciamis and Cianjur," Anindya said.

"We expect we can begin to operate in the remaining 8 cities in West Java by the end of this year."

Equally important, with Bakrie Telecom commencing operations in new cities in West Java and Banten, the company has now met the demands of the government as required under their license, he added.

Apart from launching a bundle product Esia package in cooperation with cellular phone producers such as Nokia, Nexian, Motorola, LG and ZTE, the company also recently launched a new product called Wifone.

Wifone, or Wireless Intelligent Fone Service, is a fixed wireless phone that operates within in a restricted area but has SMS capability and other features.

According to research conducted by the company, some 67 percent of Jakarta citizens like to have a home phone line as well as a cellular phone.